McDaniel-Hale: Vocational education needed, and U46 headed in right direction

The progress and future direction of a program designed to bring about generational change and support the success of students in School District U46 was discussed at a recent Elgin Committee of the Whole meeting by its executive director, Nancy Coleman.

ACE, the Alignment Collaborative for Education, brings together the city, social services, the chamber of commerce and the schools, she said, to try and ensure that more students are able to meet their goals, which change with the times.

Bringing in the chamber was important, said U46 CEO Tony Sanders, because of its focus on career exploration, aided by the business community. That element also was celebrated by Councilman Terry Gavin.

“I am very excited to see all that education provides to join together to teach our youngsters. Twenty-five years ago, the push was for students to abandon their vocational needs and to look to obtaining a college education. Now the push is moving back to vocational training programs and I am very happy to be a part of it. Employers are looking for qualified employees,” Gavin said.

Councilwoman Tish Powell had a question about students at the other end of the district’s age range.

“I am concerned why students are not coming to school kindergarten ready. What needs to be done to make our students ready to attend school?” she asked.

Sanders responded with two points — that kindergarten readiness testing is only conducted in English and that more early childhood classrooms are needed since expanded all-day kindergarten took over some space formerly devoted to that purpose.

The need for improved vocational programming promoted through the work at ACE is commendable. Our society has changed from the time when students were able to enter directly into the workforce after high school graduation, but it is good to see that vocational programming is being reconsidered.

With more such training, students again will be able to get jobs, obtain experience, and make decisions later on whether they would like to attend college. Not everyone is ready to attend college immediately after high school for a variety of reasons, including lack of finances, lack of maturity, and just not being sure what they want to study.

Vocational training programs are a great option for those not ready to make the leap into college.

Linda McDaniel-Hale is a Fox Valley resident who offers opinions on local topics.